Welcome to WeldingWeb.com, the ultimate Source for Welding Information & Knowledge Sharing! Here you can join over 40,000 Welding Professionals & enthusiasts from around the world discussing all things related to Welding. You are currently viewing as a guest which gives you limited access to view discussions

To gain full access to our community you must register; for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

Participate in over a dozen different forum sections and search/browse from nearly a million posts.

Post photos, respond to polls and access other special features
All this and much more is available to you absolutely free when you register; for an account, so join our community today today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact support.

Re: How Can You Make A Felt Wire Cleaner

Originally Posted by Dilworth Boy

How Can You Make A Felt Wire Cleaner That Goes Between The Spool And Motor.

Why bother! Those lube pads are pretty much worthless and not needed. I sell Lincoln, Esab, Hobart/Corex and National Standard weld wires, and every rep from those companies has told me they are not required, and in most cases do more harm than good. Every weld wire manufacturer puts a lubricant on their wire to help feedability, and if you use the lube pads you can actually remove the lube that is their to help feedability. Have you ever used these and noticed a black graphite type substance in the pad?, Guess what that is? Wire Lube! I've had customers use these and have the pad build up with so much lube, then when they start feeding wire the wore can actually pull this lube into the liner. IMO the only time these are ever needed is if a guy has a dirt floor shop, does extreme amounts of arc gouging etc; Don't ever use these on aluminum wires either, as you will really have feeding issues.

My boss was giving me crap a few months ago about all the customers I told not to use these pads, I told him I was there to solve problems, not contribute to them.

Re: How Can You Make A Felt Wire Cleaner

Originally Posted by ss42768

Why bother! Those lube pads are pretty much worthless and not needed. I sell Lincoln, Esab, Hobart/Corex and National Standard weld wires, and every rep from those companies has told me they are not required, and in most cases do more harm than good. Every weld wire manufacturer puts a lubricant on their wire to help feedability, and if you use the lube pads you can actually remove the lube that is their to help feedability. Have you ever used these and noticed a black graphite type substance in the pad?, Guess what that is? Wire Lube! I've had customers use these and have the pad build up with so much lube, then when they start feeding wire the wore can actually pull this lube into the liner. IMO the only time these are ever needed is if a guy has a dirt floor shop, does extreme amounts of arc gouging etc; Don't ever use these on aluminum wires either, as you will really have feeding issues.

My boss was giving me crap a few months ago about all the customers I told not to use these pads, I told him I was there to solve problems, not contribute to them.

Yeah, what he said!

If you do feel the urge to put a felt pad on your wire, the only wire I would wipe is the self-shielding flux cored wire. I have heard that you can just push the end of the wire through a foam earplug and that will clean it off well enough for next to no money.

Re: How Can You Make A Felt Wire Cleaner

Get rid of the pads, poke a hole in a simple foam earplug, pass the wire through it. Every roll of wire pop in a new earplug. This keeps the liner free from crap, and it will outlast the oiled felt version 10:1.

The oiled pads were great 20 years ago, when gun liners were made from crap steel. Not anymore and are just a waste of money to buy the felts.

Re: How Can You Make A Felt Wire Cleaner

Just a little mention here, Lincoln specifically recommends NOT using any kind of wipe, on ANY of their wires. If anybody cares to look, this is right on their website, http://www.lincolnelectric.com/
Maybe somebody has time to look it up and post a link, I don't right now, but I know it's there.

Re: How Can You Make A Felt Wire Cleaner

That is correct NOT to use any kind of extra oil (felt) cleaner. You want the liner as dry and clean as possible, not an oilly mess. The ear plug or foam idea merely prevents any dust, welding particulate or other from entering the frive system. It does not harm the wire in any way, unlike it's oilly counterpart.

When I see the felt, or scotch bride pads on the wire on a service call, I toss it into the trash and notify the purchaser not to use that crap any longer!

Re: How Can You Make A Felt Wire Cleaner

The guy at the steel supply was gonna give me one of the round ones with a strong spring around the outside, and for the first time in my life, I turned down a freebie.

I have a little Hobart 135, and when the arc starts getting intermittent, first thing I do is check the feed. If the wire isn't feeding right I've found that the best thing is to just take the liner off the machine, remove the tip, and give it a good shot of compressed air at the tip end. Amazing how much stuff comes outta that liner.

Re: How Can You Make A Felt Wire Cleaner

The original problem is dirt from the shop getting on an open spool of wire. The best solution I have experienced is a strip of carpeting that is the same width as the inside of the wire spool. It was about 18 inches long and hung in a Vee over the top of the spool riding on the wire. It stopped grinding dust and spatter from landing on the wire and as the spool rotated the top layer of wire was kept clean.
There is no need for any type of wipe when using wire in an enclosed feeder. If you are getting contamination of a liner look at too tight drive rolls causing the surface of the wire to flake off.